Duty Tax

[NorCalPiper]

Eric-I sent you a PM

[KFCarter]

I've had a number of packages sent Royal Mail, never taking more than 10 days, and usually more like 7... so far, never had to pay any duty

[Paul]

It wont be as much as any EU country... I normally get charged an extra 40-45% duty & vat when things are sent from the US by DHL.

[Paul Henry]

@ thescot... the point that you are missing is that the seller does not have any control over the duties imposed, or not as sometimes happens, so there is no onus on the seller to work out what might or might not be added on once the goods are delivered.
If you buy from someone, you buy on their terms, if you don't want to buy goods from a supplier you simply don't have to!
But the fact remains you can't impose on a supplier how he does business....

[Lyle1]

@ thescot... the point that you are missing is that the seller does not have any control over the duties imposed, or not as sometimes happens, so there is no onus on the seller to work out what might or might not be added on once the goods are delivered. If you buy from someone, you buy on their terms, if you don't want to buy goods from a supplier you simply don't have to! But the fact remains you can't impose on a supplier how he does business....

I agree, but only to an extent. I think you do have the right to specify that the seller not use a shipper whose business practices you find questionable. If, on a seemingly regular basis, the local Post Masters (agents of the federal government) do not see fit to collect duty fees, why should the buyer be subjected to the arbitrary fees (not calculated/imposed and verified by the federal government) imposed by commercial carriers. The postal services of both the UK and the USA have an acceptable service record, and the buyer has a right to request shipment by mail. If the seller refuses to ship by the method specified by the buyer, the buyer can exercise the option/right to buy elsewhere. More than one seller has changed established business practices based on the requests/demands of the customers. If enough customers cancel an order over the refusal to ship by mail, a smart vendor will get the message.

[ForresterModern]

Thank you Gary (aka Wompet) for chiming in as our resident Homeland Security/Border Gendarme/ US Customs expert. You can trust his work folks, 'cause he is the real deal, with the badge to prove it.

I learned about the "list it as ethnic clothing" idea here on the forum from someone but cannot remember who (might even have been Gary). I think it is a wonder that more of us do not request this when ordering kilts and kilt related items from overseas. Might save a lot of folks a lot of money, especially those getting hit with FEDEX charges.

Thanks again Gary.


jeff

[Lyle1]

Wompet, thanks for the correction. Yes, duty fees are collected by Us Customs and Border Protection.

I could not find specific regulations about kilts and little about ethnic clothing. So, I called the local office of the US Customs Port Director. The person to whom I talked did immediately find any regs relating specifically to kilts or ethnic clothing, but she did provide me some information on processing procedure that would apply to this discussion. She basically said that if the CBP is not collecting duty on items shipped entering the US via the US Postal Service, it would not collect duty on the same item if were shipped via a commercial carrier. She suggested the following:

1. If a carrier (i.e., FEDEX, DHL) tries to recover duty that they paid on items shipped through them, you should ask for the “Entry Number” that would have been assigned by the CBP. You can then track that transaction through the CBP to assure that the duty was properly paid. If the carrier can not give you an entry number, it can not prove that it paid the duty!

2. You can specify that items shipped through a public carrier be labeled for IP (Informal Entry). When the item arrives in the US, the carrier would contact you, and hold the shipment while you would then call the CBP Port Director in the area where the items are being held. A CBP agent would then walk you through the Informal Entry process which would most likely result in the shipment being exempt from duty.

All in all, I think it would be easier to specify that the vendor ship via Royal Mail (if in UK). If the vendor will use the mail system, the buyer is free to find another vendor. There are a lot of vendors who sell good kilts. If a vendor can not give a satisfactory reason for refusing to ship via the mail system (particularly if you are being assessed shipping charges), I would not want to business with them.